Say it with a GIF

A research project on how GIFs and Emojis are

employed as tools for communicating and

expressing emotion in private online

conversation.

Cecilie Brun Overgaard

New Media and Digital Culture Masters

Supervisor: Tim Highfield

Table of Content:

THEORY:...5

THE CONCEPT OF MEDIATIZATION:...5

SELF PRESENTATION THEORY:...7

MEDIATIZATION OF COMMUNICATION...8

ATTENTION ECONOMY:...10

LITERATURE REVIEW:...12

EMOJIS:...12

GIFS: (GRAPHICS INTERCHANGE FORMAT)...15

GIFS ON SOCIAL MEDIA...16

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF GIFS:...17

REACTION GIFS:...18

FINDING AND CREATING GIFS:...19

REMIX CULTURE:...19

CONTEXT AND MISSUNDERSTANDINGS IN GIFS AND EMOJIS:...20

CELEBRITY GIFS AND SELF PRESENTATION:...22

METHODOLOGY:...24 QUANTITATIVE METHOD:...24 QUALITATIVE METHOD:...26 RESULTS:...26 SCENARIO 1:...27 SCENARIO 2:...29 SCENARIO 3:...31 SCENARIO 4:...32 SCENARIO 5:...34 SCENARIO 6:...36 SCENARIO 7:...37 INTERVIEW RESULTS:...41 ANALYSIS:...42 CONCLUSION:...52 BIBLIOGRAPHY:...54 APPENDIX:...59

ABSTRACT:

This thesis sets out to research how new media users deploy GIFS and Emoji’s in online private communication. In order to answer my research questions, surveys and semi structured interviews have been conducted. The results show that new media users deploy them as tools to express emotions in fun and light hearted conversations as well as a tool for self-expression. These visuals are not considered as a full and developed language but they construct realistic gestures that can help flourish and enhance messages online.

INTRODUCTION:

Pictures say a thousand words so “If you have to say it, say it in GIFs” or at least that’s what the article in ‘HuffPost’ suggested a few years ago. The article discusses how these GIFs, as well as more visual content have become implemented into “every corner of digital communication”, (Fallon 2015) and

today in 2019 this is more relevant than ever, as the article “How Animated

GIFs Are Taking Over” released a few weeks ago by Lifewire expressed that

“Today, GIFs are playing an increasingly important role in breaking news on the web, telling stories through photojournalism and giving us new ways to express our emotions when we can’t do it in person. There’s no doubt about it – GIFs and social media have indeed become BFFs.” (Pardes 2018)

In another article published last year by the Times titled ‘Forget Words, a lot of millennials say GIFs and Emojis communicate their thoughts better than English,’ presented the results from a survey conducted by Harris Poll, that found that 36% of millennials age between the age of 18-34 use GIFs, Emojis and stickers as ‘visual expressions’ in order to better communicate thoughts and feelings instead of using words or text. (Steinmetz 2017) It suggest that visuals can literally ‘paint a better picture’ and express a nuance that text cannot. (Steinmetz 2017) BBc’s article ‘how GIFs won over the internet’ indicates this is because society lives “in an age of 24/7 information, where there’s pressure to stand out, and a general expectation that we should react to news in real time, we need to say something as quickly and emphatically as possible – so we say it with gifs.” (Haider 2017) This shows how impactful these visual elements have become in Western Culture, which is why they make an intriguing object of study, especially when discussing how they are used through private online conversation, as it divulges different types of personal information compared to public communication. It also reveals and how these types of communication can help build relationships and self-representation. With the rise of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat there has been a shift in the ecology of social media that points towards a more visual way of interacting and self-presentation beyond pure textual communication. Sharing images and visual content has become a fundamental way for users (at least in the West) to communicate, receive and experience information online. It suggests a shift in the way that users

establish and relate to themselves and others, as well as the world around them. (Russmann and Svensson 2017) Visual imagery, especially GIFS and Emojis are interesting objects to research because they are valued as an addition to verbal or textual communication that gives both the ability to express a message (whether it be an opinion or reaction to something) much faster, in addition to helping the receiver understand it quicker.

According to Gretchen McCulloch when it comes to online communication, these “back-channelling expressions” that people use in real life, such as “yeah, mm-mm and uh-huh” are missing. (McCulloch 2018) These expressions are important, as they become a form of acknowledgment that the person is still paying attention. On social media there is a lack of body language and minor expressions that helps to understand what the other person is feeling or what they mean. These forms of expressions have slowly been increasing on Social media. This can for example be seen via the simplicity of the like button or the ‘hearting’, of a message, as they act as indicators that the message has been received or that it has been acknowledged without having to type a message. This vast amount of visual substance that is experienced in these contents and practises “had and been encouraged by) new technological capabilities and platform affordances, and that this is a critical part of online communication.” (Highfield and Leaver 2016)

Visual images also advocate and suggests reality, (Fahmy et al. 2014) as well as promote interactions between users, subsequently creating casual relationships between them, which is why looking at the way in which visuals in the form of GIFs and Emojis are used in private conversations online can be fruitful. It allows for a deepening understanding of how GIFs and Emojis situate themselves within new media users’ daily life and what this means for expressing emotional conversation.

The visual content that is being produced by the user and the way in which it is used, can essentially create a more precise understanding of the user’s behaviour, as “Visual content might also reveal additional information about an individual...including background details not necessarily considered by the user when posting but which are visible to other users.” (Highfield and Leaver 2016) The user is essentially selling more intricate private information in exchange for more interactive and expressive way of communicating. Yet B.J. Fogg expresses that; friction or resistance in our lives cause stress; (Fogg 2003) so users let’s themselves be observed as it comes with benefits. It seems to suggest that conveniency and a more realistic experience takes precedence over what personal information is leaked.

This can also be used in the discourse of the online private conversation as it begs the question, if users are more likely to use visual elements in order to make their life easier, faster and more realistic?

There has been a lot of research surround these phenomenons within public social media, however it implores the question of how they are employed in private online communication and how these visuals are being deployed and with whom. This lead me to my two main research questions:

1. “How do new media users employ GIFs and Emoji as tools for communicating and expressing emotion?

2. How do different contextual factors impact upon their use of visual content for these purposes?”

Subsequently this will also give an insight into how these visuals are used as a way to self-express and build relationships.

In order to research the former questions, I will be conducting primary empirical research through an online Survey and five semi structured Interviews. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will allow for a more holistic overviews of how these visual aids are used as tool for communicating and expressing emotion, as it grants insight into the participant’s private use of the visuals. In order to analyse and attempt to answer these questions I will be using a lens of Mediatization. I will be referring to the post-modern theory of mediatization regarding hyper reality, Self-presentation theory and the Attention Economy theory in order to establish a well-rounded comprehension of how these phenomena’s are used in private conversation and what this means for new media users.

THEORY:

In order to examine the use of GIFs and Emojis for personal communication I will be using a lense of Mediatization. It will provide a baseline understanding of how media has affected social and communication structures, as the concept suggest that media has become an impending part of every aspects of life in the West. In order to guide my analysis i will be looking at the concept from a social-constructive approach which “observes social changes through the

processes of social construction of reality in mediated communication.” (Hepp

and Lundby 2015) This is significant as it shows how visuals aids in the form of GIFs and Emojis have had the ability to emerge and be used as a way to

communicate emotions online and what this means for self-presentation as well as interpersonal connections.

THE CONCEPT OF MEDIATIZATION:

The notion of meditization was first brought up in 1995 by the Sociologist John B Thompson, who states that the media's development has become a fundamental part of the development of modern society. (Hjavard 2008) In the late 90s the concept increased and more conceptual and theoretical work as well as empirical research was conducted.

The concept of mediatization was first used within political research fields for example through studies by Gianpietro Mazoleni and Windfred Schultz (1999) Then in the mid-2000s there was an increase in research done on mediatization in various aspects of culture and Society. There was research done by Krotz (2003) and Hepp (2009) on the effects on communication, research by Lundby (2006) and Hjarvard (2008) on religion and culture, research by Dohle et al (2009) on sports and research by Hepp et all (2011) on migration. Media has become a part of our everyday lives due to “its convenience, affordability and dynamic.”(Nie et al 2014) According to Kho Suet Nie there has been a paradigm shift in where everything around us has become “mediated” This means that media has emerged and become independent to the extent where other institutions are relying on it. Therefore, mediatization becomes a central concept in the understanding of Media's role in the development and future of our culture and Society. “perceiving mediatization in a broad sense as the media’s growing influence on all spheres of the social life” (Ushanova 2015) Mediatization is considered one of the social processes that has effectively changed culture and communication, as it not only has a focus on media

effects but also looks at the “interrelation between the change of media

communication” as well as the socio cultural developments. It situates media as an involvement in our everyday communication and as a constructor of reality. (Hepp and Lundby 2015)

Throughout the history of mediatization research there has been a lot of debate on what Meditization actually is and can be defined as, due to it wide influence on society, however for my research I will be research specifically online private communication therefore I have decided to using Stig Hjavards definition of Mediatization that states:

“mediatization implies a process through which core elements of social and cultural activity (like work, leisure, play, ect) assume media form” (Hjarvard 2008)

According to his definition, it suggests that people's way of interacting and communicating with each other have assumed a media form and consequently users are becoming gradually more dependent on it. In the case of my research it implies that due to an increase of meditizatin in the West, new media users have become more dependent on using media in order to communicate and allows for the development of GIFs and Emojis to become a tool for communicating and expressing emotion due to this increase in media influence.

Fredrich Krotz and Winfred Schulz similarly tries to understand the various transformations that happens in social and cultural life due to increase exposure of Media.

Stig Hjarvard in his journal “the mediatization of society” explains how traditionally the media was thought of as something that was detached from Society and Culture however states that “contemporary society is permeated by the medium to an extent that the media may no longer be conceived of as being separate from cultural and other social institutions.” (Hjarvard 2008) Taking this into consideration it seems to indicate or insinuate that media is simply not something that one can choose to use or not to use as Hjavard suggests that every part of western lives have in some sense becomes rooted within or around media, which means that Media has a huge impact on the way in which people interact and present themselves in today's society. It creates a form of duality between society becoming more and more immersed in the media as well as an increase in the dependence on media and its logic. (Hjarvard 2008) This is why it is important to discuss for my research as it suggest that the way in which new media users communicate have become more digitized and this deems for more developed ways to communicate, for example with an increase of visuals to make interaction more real.

According to Krotz media is a form of structure that makes communication possible and also possible to modify, which is why he believes that mediatization should be understood as a form of change in communication due to a change in media costumes. (Krotz 2007) Krotz states that mediatization is a continuous process that keeps on changing and evolving with society and its societal needs, making it possible for new communication methods to emerge, which can structure and effectively change how users present themselves and build relationships. (Krotz 2007) This suggests depending on how GIFs and

Emojis are used it can reveal a lot about the user. This is also an important aspect to address in my research as it is situated within the private sphere. In order to address it through my analysis I will be using the self-presentation theory.

SELF PRESENTATION THEORY:

Self-presentation is a behavioural attempt to express information or a certain image about oneself to a receiving audience. It was first mentioned in Goffman's 1959 classic work “the presentation of the self in everyday life.” Goffman saw a connection between the kinds of acts that people put on in their daily life and theatrical performances. His work proposed what is now known today as the self-presentation theory. (Goffman 1959) Although Goffman originated the theory and it’s important to credit and acknowledge, for the purpose of the research, I will be addressing Roy F. Baumeister and Debra G. Hutton’s expansion on the theory, as it is more relevant.

According Baumeister and Hutton the Self presentation theory suggest that people present the self in certain ways depending on the environment, as it also suggests a that people have a desire to control how other people see them and what impression they give off. They express that;

“These motivations are in part stable dispositions of individuals but they depend on situational factors to elicit them. Specifically, self-presentational motivations are activated by the evaluative presence of other people and by others' (even potential) knowledge of one's behaviour.” (Baumeister and Hutton 1987)

There are two forms of self-presentational motivations with the first one being

‘pleasing the audience’; meaning one presents behavioural characteristic which the matches “the audience's expectations and preferences.” (Baumeister and Hutton 1987) This does not mean that its a true reflection, as the person may want to present themselves in a new light, that perhaps makes them seem more dangerous or fun. It is typically used in order to influence or even manipulate the receiver, which they deem most useful. Whereas the other one is representative of mannerism of one's own ideal self. (Baumeister and Hutton 1987) This is interesting when combined within the context of GIFs and Emojis in private conversation as it suggests that the use of the visuals reflect a sense of identity and by research what contextual factors impact their use, it can give insight into how they are used as a tool for self-expression, suggesting that new

media users are deploying certain GIFs and Emojis because it reflects the desired personal expression.

The theory has been widely used in academics especially within social media focused research in order to establish how people present themselves in

certain setting. Recent work on the theory can be found in Belk's Extended Self

in a Digital World (2013) , Sanja Kapidzic’s and Susan C. Herrings Tenn, Gender and self-Presentation in social media (2015).

MEDIATIZATION OF COMMUNICATION

Winfried Schulz discusses mediatization in the form of combination between technically defined media logic and socially culturally defined media logic. He introduces four processes that shows how the media has changed the interaction between human communication in the private sphere. (Schulz 2004) These processes will help guide and understand how communication has changed and how it is relevant for my research.

Firstly, he discusses how media has extended human communication in both time and space. The development of technologies like the phone and mass media, it has created the possibility to communicate with anyone no matter the geographical location or time. It shows a lot of versatility and comfortability. (Schulz 2004)

The second process that is brought up is that “media substitute social activities that previously took place face-to-face.” (Schulz 2004) Hanging out or catching up can be done through social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. You can even video call where it almost feels like you are together. For my research I want to address this point and see if people are using social media more to communicate or if face to face communication is still preferred, which can indicate that there has been a shift in the communication dynamics and establish how these GIFs and Emojis play a part in furthering this mediatization of communication.

The third process that is brought up is that “media instigate an amalgamation of activities.” (Schulz 2004) This can for example be seen with the phenomenon of gifs and emojis because it creates a combination of an imitation of face-to-face communication and mediated communication. This can also be seen with the development of the mobile phone, it is no longer just a device used to communicate but it has become a way in which people connect to the world through mediale technology.

The last process mentioned is that due to this people are adapting their behaviour to “accommodate the Media's valuations, formats and routines.” (Schulz 2004) This means that due to the emergence of new customs online, people adapt and change to these conditions. This would insinuate that users of all ages are using GIFs and Emojis increasingly and it has become a part of their online communication.

The aforementioned second point regarding “media substitute social activities that previously took place face-to-face”(Schulz 2004) is intriguing and has been discussed by many postmodern theorist, as it insinuates that mediatization has not just embedded media into the everyday sphere but it has also made it more realistic and intriguing for users, subsequently increasing this dependency on media, as it creates ease and comfort.

Jean Baudrillard is one of the postmodern theorist who claimed that a new type of society filled with new experience was due to this new post-modern media landscape. In the late 1970’s he explains how the media had become a “key

stimulation machine, which reproduce images, signs, and codes, constituting

an autonomous realm of (hyper)reality that plays a key role in everyday life and the obliteration of the social.” (qtd. in Kellner 2011) He discusses how these “simulations” construct a society in which “identities are constructed by the appropriation of images, and codes and models determine how individuals perceive themselves and relate to other people.” (qtd. in Kellner 2011) This is a reflection of today's social media and new media, where people are frequently updating and posting about their lives.

Baudrillard' believes that this’ postmodern society is one rooted in hyperreality, in which he exclaims people use as a get away from the real. The hyperreality provides a granter experience for example in today's world, by allowing you to add filter to your images or to experience virtual or augmented reality in the comfort of your own home, however it still projects “the scenes of banal everyday life, as well as the codes and models that structure social interaction.” (qtd. in Danesi 2013) According to his postmodern theory the media was previously “believed to mirror, reflect, or represent reality, whereas now the media are coming to constitute a hyperreality, a new media reality --"more real than real" -- where "the real" is subordinate to representation leading to an ultimate dissolving of the real. “ (qtd. in Kellner 2011)

This idea of hyperreality worried Hjarvard who stated that that mediatisation as a postmodern theory is “too grand” has it insinuates a “disappearance of reality”, (Hjarvard 2008) therefore meditization should be conceived as “an

expansion of the opportunities for interaction in virtual spaces and a

differentiation of what people perceive to be real.” (Lundby 2014)

I tend to agree with Lundby as Baudrillard's postmodern theory on the hyperreal is perhaps too profound however the notion of media reflecting and becoming more immersed with the real is very valid and useful to examine when discussing the unfolding of new formats in which people use to communicate with. Through my research I want to address this aspect of the theory, by looking at the development of Gif and Emojis in online private conversation and why they are used. This should give me an indication if they are deployed due to their resemblance to reality and the real world. This can help to establish the form of relationship the virtual has with the real and vice versa.

This is very important as according to Micheal H Goldhaber “if the Web and the Net can be viewed as spaces in which we will increasingly live our lives…” (Goldhaber 1997) new laws and actions will and have to occur in these new realms. He also places emphasis on the development of the internet stating ;

“it is part of a revolutionary change in the way we do things and why we do them. Many names for the new era have been invoked: the information age, the Third Wave, the move towards cyberspace, all of which point, vaguely at least to the fact that new patterns of activity and of interrelationships among people are now emerging.” (Goldhaber 1997)

Goldhaber insight gives way for the development of the attention economy theory, which will help establish the environment in which new media user are situated and are using these visuals.

ATTENTION ECONOMY:

Gudmund Hernes emphasises that due to this meditization there has been a shift in our Society, from one where information was sacred to one where information is now an abundance. This exhibits a change in attention as well as rendereding “attention a strategy resource for which anyone with the message

must compete.” (qtd. in Hjarvard 2008)

The concept of Attention Economy is rather new and was first used by Herbet A. Simon, to characterized our society to be one of information overload, where this “rapid growth of information cases scarcity of attention.” (Simon et al. 1971) Which indicates that the concept treats human attention as a commodity

instead of money, and if attention is consider as a resource, it can easily become scarce as “a person has only so much of it” (Crawford 2015)

Thomas H Davenport and Micheal H. Goldhaber are some of the business strategists that have adopted this term and used it within the business world. (Crowdcentric media 2014) The concept has also been applied to sectors in advertising, to tailor and grab the attention of the user instead of their competitors. Many users are aware of this and if the product it not up for their linking or fulfilling the needs they can easily shift their attention and find another alternative. They simply move onto the next thing, showing how they have become more selective with their time and what they spend it on, nevertheless this creates “a world of distractions” according to An Xiao Mina. A world where there is information everywhere, constantly competing for people's attention and because of this, “attention becomes a more critical deciding factor about what a society values.” (Mina 2019) This highlights the reasoning for using the attention economy theory for my research as it allows me to establish if the use of GIFs and Emojis … or to understand why these visual aids have emerged as well as how they are being used.

However, many scholars believe that this concept is a double sided sword, as it shows evidence of an increase in instant gratification throughout the first world countries. (Mina 2019)

Instant gratification is the yearning for an instantaneous fulfilment. Essentially meaning wanting something without any waiting. (Patel 2014) Entrepreneur and online marketing expert Neil Patel claims that humans have an innate need for wanting things quickly, and with the development of these ubiquitous technological devices we are constantly “plugged in and turned on.” (Patel 2014) You don’t have to wait for the paper to read to the news, you don’t have to go to the mall to buy clothes because the website does next day delivery, you don’t have to go to cinema to watch a movie or even go meet someone, because now you can keep in contact with anyone no matter geographical location without having to wait or even move. It shows how technology has developed and helped improve abilities in life. However the consequences that this may have according to Harris Stratyner is that “we may be raising young people who don't develop the ability to delay immediate gratification” (Stratyner 2010) resulting in more people feeling anxious if their what they are seeking, even if it’s a small thing, is delayed. Together with the improvement of technology and the “fast paced, high stress life of modern society” (J.Leitner and F. Leitner 1989) people are adapting to the environment around them and discovering new and faster ways to do things, also allowing these digital tools to develop alongside with society's needs. (Bauman 2000) Hajvard emphasises

this by claiming that if there is a communicate need that is not being meet, “people use available technique by different methods or else a demand for new

technique emerges.” (Hjarvard 2008) As society become more mediazed and

more involved in this online world it naturally begs for a development in the way in which communication happens.

This is useful to understand for my research as it leads me to believe that when messaging, people want to express as much as possible in the shortest amount of time, as well as implying that new tools emerge that can help this process. Through my literature review I will explore further the unfolding of GIFs and Emojis within the communicative structure, which an be applied to my further research on these phenomena in the private sphere. If they are seen as new tools it could implicate that they are being used as replacement for quick and easy responses, which begs the question are ‘new media users deploying visual aids in order to create a more lifelike interaction online and to help express themselves better or is it because they have been overwhelmed by media and content that GIFs and Emojis becomes a shortcut for easy and quick assumption and consumption?’

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Texting did not 'become a thing' until 1992 when Niel Papworth; a British software architect send the first text reading ‘Merry Christmas’. (Travis 2017) Unlike today's smartphones- texting in 1992 required one to press physical buttons up to several times depending on the letter required, which was extremely time-consuming, especially when trying to convey a large amount of information. Peter P Rogers, Kazia F Jalal and John A Boyd believed that “necessity is the mother of inventions” (20) and the development of ‘text language,’ typically also known as ‘SMS’ (short message service) language and abbreviations epitomizes this, as it allows for a quicker conversation of information. Abbreviations were and are still widely used in online conversations and can be expressed in several different ways. Initialisms such as LOL (laugh out loud)and SMH (So much hate), which are generally quite popular in today’s media landscape is an example of an abbreviation style. Another example is; numbers as homophones; 2 much 4 u, that’s gr8. As well as omitting vowels; tomorrow becomes ‘tmrw’ and something becomes ‘smth.’ Despite the development of sending quick informative messages with shorthand language, the search for new and improved ways to communicate did not stop. One of the first examples of visual communication used in texting was the ‘emoticons’ such as :-) (happy smiley) and :-( (sad smiley), which were used to express simple, non-complex emotions. These visual representations of

human facial features were created by the US advertising type already in 1963. (Briggs 2016) They become increasingly more popular during the ’60s and ’70s, however, it was not until 1982 that Scott Fahlman took this concept of the yellow circle with eyes and an upturned mouth and incorporate it into the world of computers. This form of emoticon was interestingly not used as a ‘universal feel-good symbol’ but more of an indicator; at the end of the message, that the person responding is perhaps joking or making the conversation more light-hearted. (Briggs 2016) Then this simple smiley face had an upgrade to the Emoji, which not only expressed more visually pleasing representation of facial expressions but also commentated more visual ways of presenting symbols and objects.

EMOJIS:

The first Emoji was created in the late 1990s by Shigetaka Kurita in Japan. His intentions were to design “an attractive interface to convey information in a simple, succinct way” (Pardes 2018) With this as his goal, he created 176 original Emoji’s (exhibited in New York’s Museum of Art) which have the ability to express information in new ways that went beyond facial expressions. The Emoji’s consisted of characters’ that for example showed ‘traffic’ (Tram, airplane, ship, car), ‘weather’ (sun, cloud, umbrella, snowman) and phases of the moon. (Pardes 2018) Kurita created a way that allowed users to add more emotional subtext to a message beyond a smile. The Emoji continued to grow in popularity in Japan and many competitors started to copy Kuritas idea. Then in 2007, a software team at Google started a petition for getting the Emoji recognized by the Unicode Consortium, which functions similarly to the United Nations, ensuring that the Emoji can be universally accessible. (Pardes 2018) 2010 this petition was accepted and together with Apple engineers 625 new Emojis (such as cats emoting emotions) were added to the Unicode Standard. In 2011 Apple added an official Emoji Keyboard to their iOS, which meant finding and using them was much easier. (Pardes 2018)

Over time the archive of Emoji’s kept growing and developing, as more diverse content was requested by the users. Many users questioned aspects such as “Why were there half a dozen icons to describe sushi, but zero tacos, burritos, or enchiladas?” (Pardes 2018) and why does all the ’human’ Emojis only feature white males? Yet it was not until 2015 that five new skin tones were added alongside Emojis of same-sex couples and more diverse characters, such as female athletes and people with turbans and hijabs. (Pardes 2018) The Unicode is even discussing the creation of Gender-neutral Emoji’s as well as a complete set of new Emojis that represent a full spectrum of users. This shows that the Emoji has a big cultural implication and as the development of more

culturally and diverse content is requested it exposes cultural priorities and what type of people use them. Simultaneously showing how impactful and used Emojis are worldwide. These new additions suggest that the Emoji has the ability to evolve into a digital language.

Owen Churches tributes the Emoji’s rise in popularity to the fact that they activate the same part of the brain as facial expressions do. (196-202) Therefore, when sending a smiley to someone, the receiver's brain will pick up on this and it will convey the same satisfaction as a real smile would. This suggests that these visual elements can be used in order to convey more realistic emotions through these mediated devices, as well as make interactions online feel more real. It has changed the way in which people communicate, as some may use them to enhance a message, while others may use them more intensively and this has the potential to create a different form of bond between the users than before. (Churches et al. 2013) The concept of mediatization argues that every aspect of society has become immersed within media and has consequently become more digital, then this development of Emoji’s seems like a natural progression, but also requests a deeper understanding of the effects of visual content on the way in which users express themselves, communicate and build friendships.

Ben Zimmer suggests that there is a universal appeal to the Emoji that may be long-lasting. (Zimmer et al. 2015) He has observed patterns with the use of Emoji’s in creating a certain mood, which he suggests is signs of a language like system emerging and many users wish that the Emoji will one day become “a real universal system of communication. (Zimmer et al. 2015) Herring and Dainas believes that this may already be the case. With the Smiley Face Emoji winning the Word of the year in 2016, they exclaim that “Emojis are evolving into a language of their own. If not as a complete grammatical system, at least a set of signs that can be used to convey propositions in conversational exchange.” (Herring, and Dainas 2017) Nevertheless not everyone shares this enthusiasm and for some people these “little pictures (that) pop up in communication immediately brings to mind...the idea that this is something very frivolous” (Zimmer et al. 2015) and it reminds them of children’s doodles that do not seem praiseworthy of any “type of serious communication” as it is in a sense “dumbing down” communication and ruining the English Language. (Zimmer et al. 2015) Yet a study by internet linguistic Gretchen McCulloch shows how they are actually helpful in the development of language in children and babies. (McCulloch 2013) Designer Rebecca Lynch emphasizes how they can be helpful for introverts to express themselves and communicate with other people, that they may not have been comfortable with before. (Lynch 2015)

McCulloch states that Emoji’s “are not the death of the English language” (McCulloch 2016) and emphasizes that there is a lot of wrong assumptions regarding Emojis. The main assumption is that they have the capability to truly replace the English language, where she mentions that, it is wrong to consider that the “Emojis are a language the way English is a language.” (McCulloch 2016) It is a form of communication method and should be seen more as gestures and occasionally as standing ins for certain words such as joy or heart, and as users are not able to express body language via text and online communication Emoji’s can prove helpful.

McCulloch discusses this further in her presentation at Emojicon2018. She explains the different forms of gestures that users use every day and how they can be translated with certain Emojis, for example, ‘Nameable gestures’, including but limited to; the wink, thumbs up, rolling eye. (McCulloch 2018) Its function is to indicate and gives the context of the word. For example, ‘I need to see you (heart) vs. ‘I need to see you (sad face)’. The use of Emoji here can change how the message is perceived. Then there is ‘Illustrative gestures which help to emphasize the main point or topic. For example, ‘I haven't had lunch yet want to eat? (Burger) ‘however when the assembling multiple Emojis to create a sentence or to tell a story, the meaning can be lost and it can turn into a game of guessing. They are therefore typically used alongside words to enhance a message, just like gestures do in real life. The Emoji can also be used as a stand-alone like thumbs up, however, it is limited to how complex the information is before it becomes difficult to understand.

McCulloch emphasizes that the Emoji is a universal language, the same way that pointing at stuff and grunting is a universal language. (McCulloch 2018) It cannot express more complex expressions but adds an element to the written word. (McCulloch 2018) By looking at the evolvement of the Emoji and with the concept of Mediatization and Attention Economy in mind, it insinuates a need for more expressive and realistic formats online and in 2004 a new phenomenon emerged in the form of the GIF (Graphics interchange format). According to Jing et al. The GIF has surpassed the emoji and has created a way to express more complex feelings. (Jiang et al. 2018)

GIFs:

(Graphics interchange format).

The GIF have become a huge part of users everyday lives on the internet and are found on “networked screens that are physically private but socially public. (Eppink 2014)They are an electronic form of flipbook that gives the illusion of an unceasing motion. “GIFs led to an entirely set of practices related to

creation and consumption, pointed out the ascending importance of the visual content to new media, seen as being very well incorporated in the everyday life” (Grădinaru 2016) and has become a key communication tool in modern digital cultures due to a mix of “their features, constraints and affordances.” (Miltner and Highfield 2017)

The file format of the .gif is actually not a new phenomenon. It was created by Steven Wilhite, a US software writer, back in 1987, who wanted to compress files without losing any quality of the visuals. (Lepard 2017) Resulting in the .gif; a soundless video or even series of images that are put together in an endless and continuous loop format, to be produced. (Lepard 2017) It is easy to transfer and takes up limited space.

The first introduction to the .gif were found in the form of ‘Under Construction’ signs on websites or as small animate icons. These .gifs became a revolutionising turning point for online connections and personalisation of websites. The file format of .gif were first deployed by the browser Netscape, which was the first of its kind that let users interact with images rather than just text on their websites and in 1995 Netscape Navigator 2.0 made it possible for user to gain easy access to the .gif format as well. It was apparent that there was a rise in the popularity in the use of .gifs. (Romano 2017)

With the evolution of web design, more refined programs such as Flash animation and JavaScript were made for transferral of images and video, which diminished the use of the .gif slightly. The format however started to flourish within the meme community, which breathed new life into the format but simultaneously it was also demoted to be considered more “juvenile and unprofessional” (Lepard 2017) Nevertheless, with the development of technology such as smartphones there was suddenly a need for a more “portable, lightweight web design and image handling” (Lepard 2017) browser, which also could be receptive cross-platform.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the .gif became a part of the public domain but around the mid-2000s the file format regained new success due to the demands aforementioned as well as the expiration of several patents on licensing. It is now fully immersed into western culture and accepted as a way to express more dynamic emotions and expressions on social media. (Lepard 2017) In fact in 2012 ‘GIF’ was even announced as the USA word of the year in the Oxford Dictionaries. Naming the Emojis and GIFS as the word of the year emphasis their importance and how they “have come to embody a core aspect of living in a digital world that is visually driven, emotionally expressive and obsessively immediate.” (Herring, and Dainas 2017) and language online can

lack enthusiasm and due to the difficulties in establishing mood and tone they are also prone to less immediate and full expressions and has a higher rate of miscommunication. (Byron 2008)

When discussing GIFs in today age, it is more likely that it is referred to the culture of GIFs rather than the file format; spelled .gifs. There are even heated arguments on social media and with online users of how to pronounce the word. Historical evidence shows that Steven Wilhite named the format with a soft g, hence the proper pronouncing is Jif. Andy Baio states that Jif can perhaps be considered as the appropriate name for the file format whereas the GIF is the culture (Baio 2014) and becomes the appropriate name for the practice of “giffing” as Linda Huber calls it. She states that when using the word GIF, it is not referring to the file format .gif, but rather “a broad set of cultural practices with their own aesthetics and communities of use.” (Huber 2015) Which is how I will be addressing this phenomenon in the remainder of my thesis.

GIFS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media networking and discussion sites have had a massive contribution in “shifting the culture of social media towards the use of Gifs.” (Haider 2017) Social media become a “form of cultural production and a form of public engagement and exchange”, which places the network as a media and a communication form. As these platforms encourage users generated content, and the GIF is created by fans and users, it makes it very easy to share these clips with others. The fact that GIFs can be used on pretty much any platform and browser gives it a huge technical advantage and also increased its popularity. (P. David 2010)

Around the year 2011, the GIFs purpose moved from being decorative to more of a language tool in conversations. Orini states that “GIFs as replies or statements or comments are a relatively recent convention I think – as in the past few years – as the high-speed Internet has allowed them to function as instantaneous, relatively high-quality film clips… (and now) typically a GIF in conversation is used as a visual analogy to a relevant topic” (Patkar 2015) According to Kevin Zeng Hu, the GIF, “like most digital media, it fills a need but it kind of also created the need.” He states how texting loses the emotional context and a certain convention of nuance that the visual can supply. (Boissoneault 2017)

However, these file formats were not supported by the bigger social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a long time. In 2013

Molly Mchugh, in an article on Digital Trends.com found that the files would show up as a “messy link, and a barrier between the recipient and my imaged reaction.” (McHugh 2013) She found that this could be due to the format being a ‘Tumblr art form’ and Tumblr editorial director; Christopher Price states that “Tumblr to me is a really all about creativity. People making things, creating things; what you can do with GIFs as an art form is just another tool in your palate.” (qtd. in McHugh 2013) It places Tumblr as an active community whereas, at the time platforms like Facebook was seen more as passive and consuming. But then in 2015 Facebook issued a statement saying;

“We built support for animated GIFs to help people express themselves in fun new ways on Facebook. Like many features that we release on Facebook, we want to ensure that this drives a great experience for people first before rolling it out more widely.” (qtd. in McHugh 2013)

This exemplifies that Facebook had become a place for more personal and expressive content, but it also places the GIF as a powerful tool that instigates this form of community. Due to the format being heavily implemented on the platforms today instigates that GIFs have the ability to ‘drive a great experience’ and is used a way to self-express.

On social media platforms, there are several different types of GIFs used and a few of the most used formats will be outlined below.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF GIFS:

The ‘Replay’ GIF:

This GIF highlights a certain event or moment, for example in sports. Even the NFL and NBA are starting to employ GIFs to relay ‘must see’ moments of the game. They are however not limited to this context and can also be used in entertaining or professional circumstances.

The ‘Cinemagraph’ GIF:

This GIF isolated a certain movement on an otherwise static photo, which evokes a tranquilizing feeling. It still incorporates the looping mechanism but it is not experienced in one loop, but rather as one event that is continuously progressing. They are typically used for travel or fashion companies due to its polished appearance. However, it is also used to “fetishizes a consumer good or identity” by enhancing a certain timeless moment. (Eppink 2014)

The ‘Perfect-Loop’ GIF;

This GIF mimics the continues progression of the cinemagraph Gif, however, it is much more active and busy. Its seamlessness can invoke a trancelike state where the viewer is looped in the same few seconds over and over again. Which is useful for advertisers and brands, as it becomes quickly memorable. (SEO 2016)

The ‘Hypothetical Reaction’ GIF

These GIFs are very common on social media sites such as Tumblr and Facebook. They are reactions to a proposed or hypothetical situation, that is shared to evoke humor and relatability. (SEO 2016)

Examples of these are GIFs that show; (How I feel when) or (My reaction when)

The ‘Actual Reaction’ GIF:

These GIFs are used as a response to a comment, thread, message or chain created by someone else. “The users of these reaction GIFs do not typically create the files they post; their use constitutes its own form of authorship.” (Lepard 2017)

For my research, I will be addressing both the ‘Hypothetical Reaction’ GIF as well as the ‘Actual Reaction’ GIF, as they are both reaction GIFs and are typically interchangeable when discussing how the format is used as a tool to express emotion.

REACTION GIFS:

As mentioned before, ‘Reaction’ GIFs are the most used and prevalent forms of GIFs in today's social media and is seen as an instrument for online interpersonal communication. They use a form of “personal expression” and has the “ability to capture and isolate bodily gestures,” which makes the ‘Reaction’ GIF an effective communication tool. (Huber 2015)

Interestingly GIFs are not just viewed, “they are created, used, posted, collected, copied, modified, performed… and it is shared as a form of identity, as an answer, as a substitute for non-verbal cues.” (Grădinaru 2016) This highlights the second process that Winfred Schultz and Knut Lundby brings up

regarding the media's influence on communication. They discuss how the media “substitutes social activities that previously took place face-to-face” (Winfred 2004) and these ‘Reaction’ GIFs have become a perfect example of so, as they in a sense substitute and display the emotions, the gestures, facial expression and behaviours that is experienced in the real world (Grădinaru 2016)) This is evidently important to acknowledge when discussing how the GIFs are used to express emotion as well as what this means for the development of the Hyperreality Theory, as it insinuates that GIFs are being used as stand-ins for real-life interactions.

‘Reaction’ GIFs are typically looped scenes taken from TV series or movies, that stands alone as a form of repetition of a particular action, emotion or conversation. Michael Newman describes these as functioning as vernacular criticism. They capture and recycle the audience's favorite moments that they love or have a special connection with. These GIFs can express anything from sadness to happiness; from awkward situation to some of the users’ proudest moments, which can all be shared and used as a way to respond and react to information on social media. (Grădinaru 2016) This is important to recognize as it can help create an understanding of why certain GIFs are picked and used, as well as develop an understanding of what this means for self-expression. It begs the question; Are ‘Reaction GIFs’ making conversation more or less personal due to its nature being rooted within pop culture? I will be addressing this further later on in the literature review.

FINDING AND CREATING GIFS:

“In today's digital society GIFs are everywhere.” (Dlss 2018) They are easy to find and use on most social media platforms, due to integrated tools such as Giphy that allows a search engine to be attached to Messaging apps. Over the past several months an increasing amount of platforms have made their keyboards GIF-friendly and have updated their archive with even more available content. However, it should be noted that not all platforms get the content from the same archive, therefore they do not have the same variety, resulting in perhaps some messaging apps being more popular than others when it comes to the use of GIFs, as they provide a larger sample of reactions to choose from. This alludes that the use and picking of GIFs is a highly personal process, which also suggests the reasoning for their existence in the first place.

The ‘Reaction’ Gifs are typically made by communities of fans who want to share and connect with others. Users who have shared interest see these GIFs,

as “vernacular creativity” (Burgees 2007) and these social media platforms help provide a space for such development which subsequently launching users into a participatory culture. As mentioned above platforms encourage user-generated content on their feeds and the participatory culture is one “in which fans and other consumers are invited to actively participate in the creation and circulation of new content” (Grădinaru 2016) According to Camilla Grădinaru Pop Culture GIFs are the manifestation of Participatory culture, which makes GIFs a great tool as it “offer opportunities to isolate emotions, underline humor, and break sequences into key moments” (Highfield and Leaver 2016). In a sense, it allows for a remix of content, where the creator can decide what part of the clip is used in order to express his or her own expressions.

REMIX CULTURE:

According to Eduardo Navas, remix culture is “the global activity consisting of the creative and efficient exchange of information made possible by digital technologies that is supported by the practice of cut/copy and paste.” (Navas 2010) The internet and social media platforms have had an important role in the circulating this remixed content and have helped support our booming remix culture.

For Linda Huber, the GIF is

“one particular phenomenon that exemplifies the power and the pervasive everydayness of remix. The gif is a very simple and accessible form of remix that draws directly on the power of mass media, but subverts it for extremely everyday kinds of creativity and expression… (and) in the reaction gif we see that remix not only pervades through our culture but has infiltrated into our first and most basic form of media: language” (Huber 2015).

Remix is a condition of culture and emphasises that “we remix meanings every time we take an idea or an artifact or a word and integrate it into what we are saying and doing at the time” (Gürsimsek 2016) therefore if considering Erstad’s understanding of the term literacy as meaning more than just reading and writing then Hursimsek suggest that “remixing user-generated content can be understood as a digital literacy.” (Gürsimsek 2016) Knobel and Lank add to this by stating that literacies not only invite users to generate and communicate meanings but also invites others to make meaning from their texts in return’. (qtd. in Gürsimsek 2016) As Eppink suggests “Most of the time when excerpts are used, they’re still the property of the thing they came from. There’s something interesting in GIFs in that they become their own entity,”

(Eppink 2014) insinuating that remixing can create a new context in which new meaning is possible. If edited by a user it can even suggest a tightly knit connection between the GIF and their identity, as the self-presentation theory implies that users are showcasing what they want others to see.

Hampus Hagman states that GIFs do have the ability to represent the essence of movement in the cinema, however, due to its short looped motion he also argues that it takes away a deeper narrative. (Hampus 2012) By only showcasing a certain movement, users miss out on information that helps to contextualize the moment and therefore takes away the larger narrative. He still believes they carry a certain type of meaning however the content of GIFs are seen more as gestures just like Emojis, however more advanced. (Hampus 2012) (Huber 2015). Which leads to another substantial part of GIF usage, which is understanding the context, be it new or original.

CONTEXT AND MISSUNDERSTANDINGS IN GIFS AND EMOJIS:

Hagman believes that these short reaction clips lose a part of the narrative, however Kate Miltner and Tim Highfield argues that the GIF actually develops multiple layers and levels of meanings due to its polysemic nature that ‘isolates snippets of lager texts’, however, this does not mean the GIFs cannot be miscommunication.

The GIF has quite a big potential to be misunderstood. Just like there might be a misinterpretation of facial expressions, gestures, this also also true for the use of GIFs and Emojis. Due to the GIF consisting of a clip that’s separated from its original meaning, the responds can differ majorly dependent on who is sending it and receiving it. “Friends of this person (or people within the same community) would likely understand most of the meanings intended by the GIF’s use; however, strangers or people from different communities would likely miss many, if not all, of the intended meanings or misunderstand its use entirely.” (Miltner and Highfield 2017) Emojis have introduced a higher degree of miscommunication due to it developing from simple emoticons such as :) (happy face) to a more realistic expression of emotion, as well as the opportunity to have a greater variety of objects available for users to deploy. As I am researching communication, the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of GIF and Emojis are vital to understand as it can lead to miscommunication in everyday conversation.

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the most common nonverbal cues in today’s CMC derive from the use of Gifs and Emojis. (Jiang et al. 2018)

Jing et al discuss the development from emoticons to Emojis to Gifs and states that “compared to emoticons, people also use Emojis in inventive ways that differ from their original meanings.” (Jiang et al. 2018) This can for example be the eggplant or the peach representing something sexual. This insinuates that the Emoji can be interpreted very differently depending on the relationship and in what context.

Jiang et al, places the source of miscommunication on the creative use of Emojis, and Tim Highfield notes similarly that “not only do individual GIFs perform a certain moment or a certain type of affect (emotion), but selecting and using the GIF format is a performance in and of itself” (Miltner and Highfield 2017) and this is due to the GIF being a community-oriented format. Social media platforms may make the distribution of GIF easier and even a possibility, however, they do not command or force them, it is all done by the users. As these ‘Reaction’ GIFs typically derive from TV shows and Movies, it shows a cultural knowledge behind the material. Which also demonstrations that the meaning can change. Take for example the use of Michael Jackson and Lori Loughlin GIFs. Due to the recent news on them, one would perhaps refrain from using these GIFs when expressing reaction. This is essential to acknowledge as it indicates a substantial connection between using GIFs and self-presentation.

There are also some GIFs that work better in some settings than others. For example, the Sitcom show “It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia”. Due to the shows nature, excluding and isolating a certain scene may not be very effective, as it is very random. Users who do not watch the show or understand the type of humour it portrays can mean a major misunderstanding in conversation, nevertheless, Huber believes that “The reaction gif functions precisely by playing with the distance between its current use and the original narrative context. Of course when the user knows what the real context or has a more developed connection to the gif shows there is a more profound level of meaning connected to the Gif.” (Huber 2015) GIFs “actively invites people to go beyond their obvious meanings and discover a deeper meaning that come from multiple layers of context,” resulting in a shift in the cultural practises of ‘Reaction’ GIFs. (Jiang et al. 2018)The cultural practises surrounding the ‘Reaction’ GIFs have contributed to a more rhetorical use of the format, making it possible for the user to visually represent themselves that that may not have been possible or appropriate with text. As Sha states; “GIFs are a visual language unto themselves, an emotive vocabulary made out of culture” (qtd. in Miltner and Highfield 2017)

Examples of these can be the use of the Big Bird from sesame street being used to communicate drunk teens or cats representing real life scenarios. These examples emphasizes the “context collapse that characterizes so much of new media practices and products.” (Huber 2015) ‘Reaction’ GIFs take on this ironic use of mass media “ bending, subverting and distorting the original meaning by putting it in a new context.” (Huber 2015) However, Huber also emphasizes that in order to understand the irony in the different levels of meaning, weather it being the original or within the new context, users need to have a ‘particular kind of expertise’ and a ‘particular kind of cultural literacy’. They need to be being able to “reinterpret and reimagine what is given to you via mass media”. (Huber 2015) This is emphasised by Highfield and Milner that states that choosing and using Gifs are an activity of itself and a performance of cultural knowledge. It is not merely a stand in for emotional reactions but it exposes a certain depth of cultural knowledge of the users depending on the GIF choice.

By using certain GIFs it can signal that they on some level are familiar with the context and the discourse surrounding it. It has the ability for users to create inside jokes and create a certain bond due to the mutual understanding of the specific intent. This insinuates that at a surface level the ‘Reaction’ Gif can be used and deployed in many situations and within diverse cultures however it also has the possibility to develop deeper conversation and richer information, but this may not translate equally well in all situations if the receiver does not know the cultural knowledge behind the GIF. This indicates that the GIFs that users send can partly be a reflection of their identity.

CELEBRITY GIFS AND SELF PRESENTATION:

Stephanie Buck acknowledges that since the start; the GIF has always contained an element of fun, and states that “humor is almost always the reason for using a Gif” (qtd. in Patkar 2015) however Huber explains that the GIF is not just used as a form of entertainment, but it is actually a tool used to “enhance and augment our primarily text-based online communications.” (Huber 2015) Face-to-Face communication allows us to show emotion and gestures via our own bodies, however, in ‘reaction’ GIFs these semantic meanings are produced by other people. “The use of animated images, displaying the bodily and facial expressive behaviors of others, acts as a novel form of demonstration within technologically mediated dialogue” (Tolins and Samermit 2016) and these forms of communication can be used “as a tool for interpersonal conversation and as a form of personal expression” (Huber 2015).

Celebrities are often used as ‘reaction’ GIFs to express these facial features and emotions, placing the celebrity as a form of subjectivity that exemplifies and “embodies the key ways of; behaving, feeling and thinking in contemporary society.” (Dyer 2004) They become a form of role models whom users look up to and possibly become a stand-in for how they want to be seen. Many may decide to use GIFs that feature their favorite actors or TV shows, as they feel a personal connection to them and therefore using them to express online gestures become very appealing. However, it’s important to note that social media platforms live of commodifying content and exploit users as free labor. By doing this it shapes what kind of GIFs are promoted, made and shared, consequently effect which GIFs are chosen for self-expression and they may not reflect “individual’s own taste” (Miltner and Highfield 2017)

GIF companies such as Gify and Tenor (which are the main providers for the GIF keyboards on social media) are promoting certain content, which rises to the top of the searches and is advocated as trending and placed in the suggestion section. Kurt Wagner describes these platforms as a “Search engine for emotion” (Wagner 2017) and “this may impact the performance of cultural knowledge through GIFs … (as well as pose the potential) to influence effective performance here, as search results reflect commercially shaped biases toward specific texts, audiences, and sources.” (Miltner and Highfield 2017) The randomness of discovering GIFs is decreasing and what was “subcultural and novel is becoming formulaic and predictable.” (Newman 2017) This important to address as it questions the cultural complications of GIF usage. The issue of ”Digital Black Face” has been a continuous concern with GIF usage.

August 2017, Teen Vogue published an online op-ed piece named “We need to talk about Digital Black Face in Reaction GIFs” which questions why there is such prevalent use of ‘Black Figures' by non-blacks within the GIF community. The journalist Lauren Jackson stated that; “The performances put society’s most racist sensibilities on display and in turn fed them back to audiences to intensify these feelings and disperse them across culture.” (M. Jackson 2017) She expressed that despite the diversity of the ’Reaction’ GIFs there is a preference of using Black people when sending “their most exaggerated emotions.” (M. Jackson 2017) This highlights the cultural complications of GIF usage, and it shows that even though these are flexible and accessible visual tools, they are not without contestation and critique. This can be specifically important to acknowledge as my research is discussing self-expression and how GIFs have come to play a part on how users represent themselves online and employing Digital Black Face is the act of inhabiting a black persona. It emphasizes that GIF use is not the same for everyone and when picking a GIF one should keep in mind, what the context is showing.

Lauren Jackson ends the article with “If you find yourself always reaching for a black face to release your inner sass monster, maybe consider going the extra country mile and pick this nice Taylor Swift GIF instead.” (M. Jackson 2017) This can insinuate that picking and choosing a GIF can possibly be affected by how advanced a users GIF knowledge is. If the user is an experiences ‘Giffer’ the search goes beyond the overall emotion and becomes more specific to what the users have in mind, for example, a certain scene or person which they feel a personal connection to. This means there is a higher chance that they would not pick these “overrepresented images of black people”. (M. Jackson 2017) Also to mention is that this was written in 2017 and when just briefly scrolling through broweser like Giphy the content that is

Through the literature presented it is evident that visual elements plays a big role in social media and communicating self-expression online. However most of the work is surrounding their use on public and semi public social media platforms, which is why I have set out to research how new media users deploy them in private online communication in the following chapters.

METHODOLOGY:

In order to collect my data, I have utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. This is done in order to get a more holistic evaluation of Gif and Emoji usages, as well as produce a richer and a deeper understanding of their impact on communication. By using mix methods, it increases the validity and reliability of the data collected.

Quantitative method:

In order to gain a more general overview of the way in which these formats are used, I have conducted an online survey that intents to research in what situations as well as to whom they are send to and why.

The survey consists of 7 different text scenarios, representing the 6 basic human emotions; Anger, Surprise, Happiness, Disgust, Sadness, Fear; with the addition of a Neutral scenario. I decided to use these as they are universal and it gives a broad overview of common topics that people react to in their everyday lives. Creating a more valid result.

Each of the scenarios will be presented six different times from six different people; (Significant other, Best friend, Group chat, Mom/ Dad/ Legal guardian, Colleague or sibling) Each time the participant needs to indicate whether they would use; a gif, text, an emoji, a mix of a gif and an emoji, text with emoji or Gif with text, to respond to the message at hand. The participants then has the opportunity to explain their pick of format. I decided to choose these people as they represent different types of relationships that the participants perhaps communicate with in their day to day live, making it interesting to see when these different formats would be prefered.

As well as being able to create a general understanding of the characteristic of a target population, the survey research is time effective. It can give a quick and easy overview of where the participants preference lies in each scenario as well as with each person. The data can easily be transformed into visuals such as Pie charts, making the overview even easier.

Google Documents provided the platform for building the survey and it was disposed via a link through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. As social media moves fast and has the ability to bring people together despite the geographical location, it becomes a useful tool to distribute a survey that hopes to reach a wide range of participants in the most time effective way. Kayam et al, found that people were very responsive as well as eager to participate when the surveys were online, due to the comfort of self-decision of when and where they complete it. (Kayam, Orly and Tijiana Hirsch 2012)

I will be using random sampling, as it straight forward approach that allows for a small sample size to represent a larger population. It decreases the chance for unbiased results as everyone has the same change for being a part of the experiment. However it should be noted that there is room for an error presentation as it is merely a small sample size and the results may be slightly higher or lower then what the results yield.

By distributing it online specially via social media platforms it may exclude people who use Gifs outside of these spaces, for example via email or whatsapp, which is why further data is collected via semi structured interviews.

Due to ethical reasons, the research is limited to a strict guideline that excludes people under the age of 18, which can mean that my research cannot explore how these phenomenons are used by younger generations. This is a shame as